Editor’s note: This article has been updated to correct the dollar figure of Ent Credit Union’s assets.

Canvas Credit Union is growing its presence in Colorado Springs, part of a broader initiative to better serve its local members and others across southern Colorado.

The state’s third-largest credit union, based in Denver’s south metro, is remodeling a roughly 5,400-square-foot portion of a 71-year-old office building at 201 N. Weber St. in downtown Colorado Springs.

Canvas plans to open its second local branch there by the end of August or early September, said Chris Bruscher, the credit union’s vice president of facilities.

The not-for-profit credit union had $4.6 billion in assets; nearly 300,000 members — more than 10,000 of whom joined in 2024; and 35 branches by the beginning of 2025, according to its 2024 annual report and information on its website.

Bellco Credit Union of suburban Denver is the state’s second-largest credit union with more than $8 billion in assets, more than 368,000 members and 27 branches, with two more opening soon in Pueblo and the town of Timnath in Larimer County, according to its website.

Colorado Springs-based Ent Credit Union, which recently announced an upcoming merger with Minnesota-based Wings Credit Union, is Colorado’s largest credit union. Ent currently has more than $10 billion in assets, 572,020 members and 60 service centers.

Canvas Credit Union was founded in 1938 by local utilities workers, originally as Public Service Employees Credit Union, before it rebranded to the Canvas name on its 80th anniversary in 2018.

Public Service Employees Credit Union previously had a presence in western Colorado Springs, operating a branch at 4750 Granby Circle, just off North 30th Street. During its rebranding, the credit union closed the branch and temporarily left Colorado Springs altogether.

“We wanted to make sure we were focusing on who we are,” Bruscher said. “As we built our new foundation and were poring into our new culture and making sure we knew who we wanted to be … that’s when we decided to get back into the Colorado Springs market and make a really large effort to serve our members in that area.”

Canvas opened its first Colorado Springs branch in Northgate on the city’s far north side in late 2023, at 383 Spectrum Loop, signaling its return back to the community.

“Working with our members and partners, we’re really huge on our relationships. Whether that be Realtors (in southern Colorado), auto sales, or whatever it may be, we want to make sure we’re supporting our members and building relationships in every way we can,” Bruscher said.

Canvas Credit Union’s upcoming branch downtown, as well as a branch recently opened at the Colorado State University Pueblo campus, are helping bolster its Front Range presence, he added.

In September 2022, Canvas purchased the building on Weber Street for $2.6 million, El Paso County assessor records show.

Among other uses throughout the decades, it is the former home of Ecumenical Social Ministries, which operated for 36 years before the nonprofit permanently closed in March 2020, during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. The site was also at one time the home of a Nash Rambler auto dealership, coincidentally tying into Canvas Credit Union’s reputation as a leading auto lender in Colorado, Bruscher said.

“It’s kind of cool to come full circle from that, to say we have a branch in this building that was once an auto dealership,” he said.

The credit union plans to lease the adjacent suite, about 7,200 square feet large, to a future tenant, Bruscher said.

Members at the Canvas branch at 201 N. Weber St. will be able to access a full range of Canvas Credit Union services, including transactions, loan services for various types of loans, savings and checking account services, investments, insurance options and more.

The branch will also include a walk-up ATM outside the building, as well as a community room that will be available for use by Canvas partners including auto lenders or homeowners associations, Bruscher said.

“I’m super excited about this,” Bruscher said of the new branch. “It’s going to be a really unique molding of our past and future.”